By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
The U.S. government has expressed concern over the killing of the peaceful #EndSARS protesters in Lagos and the general unrest in Nigeria, a country of about 200 million people.
As a result, the U.S. Department of State counselor, T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, has met with Nigerian Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, in Abuja on Thursday to find solution to the ongoing violence in the West African country.
The meeting was part of a previously scheduled delegation, which included top U.S. diplomats for human rights, Robert Destro, and for conflict stabilization, Denise Natali, as confirmed by the State Department spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus.
The Counselor had expressed the U.S. condemnation of the use of excessive force by military who fired on unarmed demonstrators in Lagos.
Ortagus on Thursday that
expressed condolences to the victims of these shootings and urged the government of Nigeria to abide by its commitment to hold those responsible accountable under the law.
At the Abuja meeting, Osinbajo and the Counselor (Brechbuhl) acknowledged that the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression was essential human rights and core democratic principles.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, issued a statement Thursday, condemning “the use of excessive force by military forces” and urging Nigeria’s “security services to show maximum restraint and respect fundamental rights and for demonstrators to remain peaceful.”
It was the first comment to come from the White House on the situation in Nigeria, following outcry from American celebrities, lawmakers and even Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden.
Recall that Amnesty International in a report said that at least 12 people were killed and hundreds more were severely injured on Tuesday night when Nigerian soldiers opened fire without warning on two large gatherings of peaceful protesters in parts of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.
The London-based human rights organization cited “evidence gathered from eyewitnesses, video footage and hospital reports.”
“Soldiers clearly had one intention — to kill without consequences,” Osai Ojigho, director of Amnesty International in Nigeria, said in a statement Wednesday, alongside the release of the report.
Amnesty International said that it also received reports that surveillance cameras at the toll gate in Lekki, a wealthy suburb of Lagos where protesters have been camped for two weeks, were removed by government officials and the electricity was cut off shortly before the shootings in what appeared to be an attempt to hide evidence.
Some of those killed and injured at the protest sites in both Lekki and Alausa, another suburb of Lagos, were allegedly taken away by the military, according to Amnesty International.
“These shootings clearly amount to extrajudicial executions,” Ojigho said.
“There must be an immediate investigation and suspected perpetrators must be held accountable through fair trials. Authorities must ensure access to justice and effective remedies for the victims and their families.”
While the shootings in Lagos have prompted global outrage and have been widely condemned, the Nigerian military has denied responsibility. On its official Twitter account, the Nigerian Army has labeled numerous reports about the shootings as “fake news.”
Lagos, a sprawling financial hub of the West African nation, has been the centre of weeks-long, nationwide demonstrations over a now-disbanded, widely-criticized police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The youth-led protest movement, which uses the social media hashtag #EndSARS, has been largely peaceful, but tensions have boiled over in recent days and fires have been set to cars, government buildings and television stations.
Authorities have imposed an indefinite, round-the-clock curfew in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who is a retired general of the Nigerian Army, addressed the nation Thursday night, urging demonstrators “to discontinue the street protests and constructively engage the government in finding solutions.”
He made no mention of the shootings of peaceful protesters in Lagos.
